SHORTAGE OF LABOUR 87 



agriculture in relation to the supply of labour which 

 existed before the war will be aggravated in the future ; 

 indeed, there is danger of the numbers of farm workers 

 after the war being actually less than before, which 

 would be a calamity. Understaffed though our 

 industry of food production was before 1914, the im- 

 perative demands of the war have nevertheless taken 

 away from it so far one-third of the entire staff, and 

 there is ground for apprehension that the number of 

 workers left may be still further reduced. 



The pressure of war conditions has operated in 

 various directions. The shortage of farm labour sent 

 up the wages of those who remained. Patriotism and 

 a sense of duty induced many thousand of women to 

 volunteer for farm work. Local demands brought 

 about the employment of school children. Finally, 

 farmers in many places have been compelled to reHeve 

 the strain by letting important tillage operations go 

 by the board. 



23. Some attempt at a forecast of the conditions in 

 the agricultural labour market at the close of the war 

 is desirable. 



(1) First of all the women who are doing farm work 



as a war duty will give it up as soon as 

 demobilisation releases the man power, for 

 which the women had offered themselves as 

 substitutes. 



(2) The employment of school children cannot and 



should not continue. 



(3) The inevitable shortage in the supply of farm 



labour at the end of the war will not be less 

 than 80,000, 



